We spoke to William to get his final thoughts on his adventure, so we will leave you with his post-trip interview!

In pursuing this trip, what would you say you set out to do?

My overall objective was to get as far south as I possibly could on transit.

What were some things about this trip that surprised you?

I was surprised about the service areas. I encountered some very rural areas that provided service meant to help people get to work or their medical appointments. When I was looking at schedules, there are notes that can mentioned that custom services could be arranged for those in need, to make small deviations from the regular route for pickup or drop-off points.

Do you have any safety tips for being a solo traveller on transit?

Mind your “street smarts” such as being careful of how much you disclose to other travellers, when asked where I was coming from, I would often say the latest place I visited (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco). I kept in touch with close friends who knew I was on the trip that I could check in via WhatsApp as well.

How much walking did you do? Did you count your steps?

I tracked my steps using my phone, and I found that I averaged around 24,000 steps a day despite being on the bus for long segments!  The layovers were great opportunities to explore on foot and broke up my journey very nicely.

Did you keep all of your travel cards?

Yes I did! I have a smartcard collection that I started when I worked on the Compass project.

Was there anything you saw that was a standout?

Wi-Fi was great on some buses, I was impressed with that, especially with the services that served more rural areas.

Where do you sit on the bus?

For me, I like looking outside the window when I take the bus. I don’t normally listen to music or bother reading anything. If it’s a new place I’ve never been, I’m keeping a keen eye out the window for good photos. I try to research the route beforehand to see what is along the way. Google Maps helps. But often, there are good things to see on both sides of the bus, so I just have to choose one. I also consider which side the sun is on (to avoid glare in the photos). I may also make a game-time decision, depending on whether or not the windows on the bus are particularly dirty on one side or not. Sometimes, the seats are taken or they’re dirty, so in these situations, the decision is already made for me.

What were some of the most challenging or most memorable parts of your trip?

You can call dispatchers to let them know you have a connection, and they can hold the bus for you if you’ve called ahead to ensure you make your connection. This was very helpful for my transfer in Lincoln City.  I also enjoyed that I saw some small towns I would not have otherwise seen, and some nature as well. The Oregon Coast and the Redwoods in California were some of these great sights that were particularly memorable.

Do you have any final reflections from your trip, now that its complete?

The journey was certainly more important than the destination. I thoroughly enjoyed making my way from Vancouver to Mexico on this transit road trip. It’s probably not for everyone; in fact, it’s probably only something for a very small number of people, so I wouldn’t recommend this to most people I know. But this has been a lot of fun for me – it’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. It’s truly amazing that I was able to take transit across a country so vast such as the United States.

I never had to walk more than about 15 minutes to reach my next connection point, although if I had time, I made it a point to walk around the town or city I was in before hopping on the next bus or train.

When I think of road trips, I think of spending long hours in a car. It was not the case with this road trip. I was able to do so much exploring in the connecting towns and cities that I was able to walk over 20,000 steps each day except for one. It is mind-blowing to think that I could travel south on transit for such vast distances, but I couldn’t get further north from Vancouver than Brunswick Beach or get further east than Hope. I am optimistic that trips like these will inspire Canadian communities to consider providing regional connections to enable travel over longer distances on public transit.

Overall, I spent just under $200 USD on transit fares alone. If you compare this to flying or Greyhound, one can get similar one-way fares, so it’s not exactly cheaper than either of those options. However, with both options, you can get to Tijuana quicker than I did on public transit.

The biggest portion of my personal costs were for accommodation, since I had to spend more time on the road. Also, the cost of food was what it was. The exchange rate ($1.4 CAD to $1 USD) didn’t really help.

Perhaps one really random thought: I did this entire trip with a high degree of confidence mainly because I could speak the local language (English), I was reasonably confident I could get a signal on my phone and I had means to support myself. It would have been a far more daunting trip if I had to speak a foreign language (one reason I didn’t really bother looking into buses from Tijuana, although I certainly would be interested), couldn’t look up Google Maps, or didn’t have any idea of where I was going to spend the nights.

In particular, Google Maps / GTFS is an amazing tool, and I really couldn’t have done this trip without being able to cross-reference schedules and see in advance where some of the bus stops were located. Being able to virtually go on parts of the trip before physically going on the trip was immensely helpful and confidence boosting.

It was great hopping from bus to bus (and the odd train), meeting people, and talking about life wherever they were from. Thank you to all the transit agencies that provided services to make this trip possible. A big thank you to all the operators who drove me. Thank you for keeping the schedule (this was actually the case most of the time). Thank you to the maintenance workers behind the scenes who ensured none of the vehicles I was on broke down.

A special thank you to the dispatchers at Lincoln County Transit who arranged for the North County bus to hold for me in order to make the connection from Tillamook. A special thank you to the operator of the Curry Public Transit bus from Coos Bay to Brookings. I enjoyed our conversation, and best of luck to you in seeking a second part time job.

A very special thank you to my close friends who kept an eye on me through WhatsApp as I ventured on this odyssey. While I travelled alone, you were always only a text message away.  Yet, as this journey draws to a close, I feel a bit sad that this epic adventure is now over. It is a bit surreal that this all worked out, pretty much all according to how I planned it (and when was the last time you had everything go pretty much according to plan?). Sitting on the various buses and looking out the window made me realize how fortunate I was to be able to do something that reflects so much of who I am and what I’m passionate about.

Exploring the west coast of North America by transit. What a concept, what a trip!

What’s next for your travels?

I’m not really sure. I’m going to remember this trip very fondly for quite some time to come. I’m not sure how to top this, but I’m open to suggestions. I could see myself doing this again. I would want to take a different route, perhaps more direct from Portland to Salem to Redding to Sacramento, perhaps. I might want to spend more time on the Oregon Coast, or explore Mendicino (thanks, Tasia!). I also might change some parts of the itinerary, because certainly, some days were more draining than others, but these are the experiences I live for. There will be more trips. Until then, safe travels, everyone, and thanks for supporting me in this journey.